Preface

THE
following Tales are meant to be submitted
to the young reader as an introduction to the
study of Shakespeare, for which purpose his words
are used whenever it seemed possible to bring them
in; and in whatever has been added to give them
the regular form of a connected story, diligent
are has been taken to select such words as might
least interrupt the effect of the beautiful
English tongue in which he wrote: therefore, words
introduced into our language since his time have
been as far as possible avoided.

In those tales which have been taken from the
Tragedies, the young readers will perceive, when
they come to see the source from which these
stories are derived, that Shakespeare's own words,
with little alteration, recur very frequently in
the narrative as well as in the dialogue; but in
those made from the Comedies the writers found
themselves scarcely ever able to turn his words
into the narrative form: therefore it is feared
that, in them, dialogue has been made use of too
frequently for young people not accustomed to the
dramatic form of writing. But this fault, if it
be a fault, has been caused by an earnest wish to
give as much of Shakespeare's own words as
possible: and if the "He said," and
"She said," the question and the reply,
should sometimes seem tedious to their young ears,
they must pardon it, because it was the only way
in which could be given to them a few hints and
little foretastes of the great pleasure which
awaits them in their elder years, when they come
to the rich treasures from which these small and
valueless coins are extracted; pretending to no
other merit than as faint and imperfect stamps of
Shakespeare's matchless image. Faint and
imperfect images they must be called, because the
beauty of his language is too frequently destroyed
by the necessity of changing many of his excellent
words into words far less expressive of his true
sense, to make it read something like prose; and
even in some few places, where his blank verse is
given unaltered, as hoping from its simple
plainness to cheat the young reader into the
belief that they are reading prose, yet still his
language being transplanted from its own natural
soil and wild poetic garden, it must want much of
its native beauty.

It has been wished to make these Tales easy
reading for very young children. To the utmost of
their ability the writers have constantly kept
this in mind; but the subjects of most of them
made this a very difficult task. It was no easy
matter to give the histories of men and women in
terms familiar to the apprehension of a very young
mind. For young ladies too, it has been the
intention chiefly to write; because boys being
generally permitted the use of their fathers'
libraries at a much earlier age than girls are,
they frequently have the best scenes of
Shakespeare by heart, before their sisters are
permitted to look into this manly book; and,
therefore, instead of recommending these Tales to
the perusal of young gentlemen who can read them
so much better in the originals, their kind
assistance is rather requested in explaining to
their sisters such parts as are hardest for them
to understand: and when they have helped them to
get over the difficulties, then perhaps they will
read to them (carefully selecting what is proper
for a young sister's ear) some passage which has
pleased them in one of these stories, in the very
words of the scene from which it is taken; and it
is hoped they will find that the beautiful
extracts, the select passages, they may choose to
give their sisters in this way will be much better
relished and understood from their having some
notion of the general story from one of these
imperfect abridgments; which if they be
fortunately so done as to prove delightful to any
of the young readers, it is hoped that no worse
effect will result than to make them wish
themselves a little older, that they may be
allowed to read the Plays at full length (such a
wish will be neither peevish nor irrational).
When time and leave of judicious friends shall put
them into their hands, they will discover in such
of them as are here abridged (not to mention
almost as many more, which are left untouched)
many surprising events and turns of fortune, which
for their infinite variety could not be contained
in this little book, besides a world of sprightly
and cheerful characters, both men and women, the
humour of which it was feared would be lost if it
were attempted to reduce the length of them.

What these Tales shall have been to the young
readers, that and much more it is the writers'
wish that the true Plays of Shakespeare may prove
to them in older years--enrichers of the fancy,
strengtheners of virtue, a withdrawing from all
selfish and mercenary thoughts, a lesson of all
sweet and honourable thoughts and actions, to
teach courtesy, benignity, generosity, humanity:
for of examples, teaching these virtues, his pages
are full.